High Stakes for Engaging Morsi's Egypt Joe Hitchon WASHINGTON, 13 Apr (IPS) - Women and minorities should be a top priority in U.S. policy toward Egypt and its Muslim Brotherhood government leaders, experts here said on Friday, despite increasingly unfavourable public views towards Egypt. more...   Obama's Budget Lays Out Transformative Change in USAID Katelyn Fossett WASHINGTON, 12 Apr (IPS) - Civil society groups here are praising parts of President Barack Obama’s newly unveiled budget proposal, saying it appears to build on momentum gathered in recent years toward a robust overhaul of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the country’s main foreign aid agency. more...   Obama Requests Modest Bump in Foreign Aid Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, 11 Apr (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday asked Congress to approve some 52 billion dollars in foreign aid and international spending in 2014, slightly higher than the current year’s budget which was cut due to the partisan impasse over how to reduce the yawning federal deficit. more...   U.S. Global Health Cuts Threaten Gains on Lethal Diseases Katelyn Fossett WASHINGTON, 9 Apr (IPS) - A U.S.-based civil society coalition is calling on Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration to keep spending on global health aid at current levels, warning that recent budget cuts risk a dangerous backslide in health and development gains achieved over the past three decades. more...   U.S. Aid to Post-Earthquake Haiti a “Black Box” Kitty Stapp , 5 Apr (IPS) - Following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, more than a billion dollars of U.S. aid money has gone to that country with little transparency or accountability on how the money is being used, according to new data released by a watchdog group here. more...   Universities “Not Living up to Missions” on Global Health Research Carey L. Biron WASHINGTON, 4 Apr (IPS) - A first-time ranking of 54 top research universities in the United States and Canada has found that a miniscule percentage of funding goes to neglected diseases, despite the outsized influence that public universities play in developing medicines for illnesses often ignored by the private sector. more...   USAID Makes Steady but Slow Gains on Transparency Katelyn Fossett WASHINGTON, 22 Mar (IPS) - The United States’ main foreign assistance agency is getting widespread plaudits for new data on a series of internal reforms aimed at aid improvement, but some development experts are pointing to a persistent opaqueness from the agency. more...   U.S. Urged to Reject New World Bank Focus on Large Infrastructure Carey L. Biron WASHINGTON, 19 Mar (IPS) - A group of environmentalists, gender activists and international finance watchdogs are calling on the U.S. government to support calls for the World Bank to step back from a new programmatic focus on large-scale infrastructure, which critics say does little to help alleviate poverty. more...   Afghanistan Faces “Massive Economic Constriction” after U.S. Withdrawal Richard Sale WASHINGTON, 14 Mar (IPS) - Next year’s drawdown of U.S. forces and decline in U.S. aid will leave in its wake an Afghan political system lacking legitimacy and stability, according to interviews with Afghanistan experts, news reports and congressional studies. more...   Pressure Grows on Washington to Pass IMF Governance Reforms Carey L. Biron WASHINGTON, 11 Mar (IPS) - Around 100 scholars, former government officials and policymakers are calling on the U.S. Congress to enact pending legislation enabling broad governance reforms within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would strengthen the voice of developing countries within the institution. more...